Practice notes: Injury city
I’m thinking about showing up at the TD Garden tomorrow with my Nike Hyperfuse’s laced up, wearing an authentic Boston Celtics jersey. The Celtics might need me.
Due to injuries, illness and family issues, the Celtics couldn’t even field a 5-on-5 scrimmage at today’s practice. The newest C’s to miss practice, according to Chris Forsberg’s injury report, were Nate Robinson (personal matter), Shaq (calf), Glen Davis (illness, likely the flu, 102-103 degree fever). That trio joined Rajon Rondo (hamstring, feet), Kendrick Perkins (knee), Delonte West (wrist) and Jermaine O’Neal (knee), who had already been sidelined with injuries.
Robinson, Shaq, Davis and Rondo are all considered questionable for tomorrow’s game. Doc Rivers seemed most optimistic about Robinson’s chances of playing tomorrow — “I think Nate will be back,” said Rivers. Shaq, despite missing practice, claimed he felt “great.” Odd, no?
At one point during the practice, the Celtics were forced to play Luke Harangody (6’7″, without a speck of athletic ability) at the center position. Luke thought he could just goof around, but Kevin Garnett put him back in his place. Said Doc Rivers, “You could see Kevin getting on him saying, ‘Get ready, this could happen.’” Yup, sounds like the Kevin Garnett I know.
Can the Celtics (16-4 and on top of the Eastern Conference) continue to succeed through all the injuries? They think so. (ESPN Boston)
“Well, as a young team, you make excuses — we’re injured, that’s why we didn’t win the game -– but with this group, it doesn’t matter who we put on the court with injuries, we feel like we’re going to win,” said Paul Pierce. “We feel like we can win. And, so, no matter who we put out on that court, we feel like we’ve got a great chance of winning and we don’t use it as an excuse. We lost some games [last year] because of some injuries, but that was no excuse for us. This year we feel like those are games we should win.”
Rajon Rondo’s hamstring
Rondo unexpectedly missed the Celtics’ last game, against New Jersey, due to his sore hamstring. He is “iffy” for Wednesday’s game against Denver. If he does play, the pulled hamstring could get worse. (ESPN Boston)
“I just leave it up to Eddie,” said Rivers. “[An extended break] may come at some point. I don’t think it’s a bad suggestion. It’s been suggested already, I can tell you that. Eddie knows when it’s close enough to play.
“The injury scares me. Both the foot and the hamstring. The foot is not the problem right now, but the hamstring can go from a pull to a tear. When you get the tear, you are talking two months so it’s a tough little situation.”
In other news, if you wanted to see Jermaine O’Neal shooting around, your wish is my command:
Related posts:
Celtics Blog | Jay King | December 7, 2010
Boston Celtics, Delonte West, Glen Davis, Jermaine O'Neal, Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Garnett, Luke Harangody, Rajon Rondo, Shaquille O'Neal
So if Doc had used the subs (Wafer, Bradley, Harangody) more vs the dozen sub .500 teams played maybe the injuries would not be so worrisome? Play the bench Doc…all of it, as that is what it is there for. Go Cs…
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Not so sure you’re on base with this one. Of the players you argue play more minutes than they should, only Rondo is injured. Pierce, Garnett, and Ray are all thriving. Do I want Doc playing the starters so many minutes? No. But you can’t blame the current injury/illness rash on Doc.
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You’re reading my comments incorrectly or I mangled them. Your point was the injuries are there and now what? Well the ‘what’ should not matter if Doc had played the bench more vs the crappy teams the Celtics have played. But maybe since the starters and regular bench guys played down to the level of their sub .500 opponents and barely won; using the bench more wasn’t an option? Go Cs…
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